Happy New Year

Dear Readers,

I want to wish you a Happy New Year.  May you be blessed is ways you never expected. 

Happy Reading

Chris

Richard Paul Evans

Dear Readers,

Most of you will be very familiar with Richard Paul Evans's name from a little book called the Christmas Box.  It was turned into a movie and he sold lots of them.  That one was followed by several others, with some turned into movies and some not.  They all ran along the same lines - very sentimental and tugging at the heart strings.

The Walk in some ways is the same as his others and yet is a bit different.  It is the start of a series of books for Richard.  The story line follows Alan who in a very short 6 weeks loses everything.  He decides in a short moment that he will walk from his home in Seattle Washington to Key West.  Which is as far as he can go and still be in the U.S.

In The Walk you go with Alan through all of the state of Washington.  When Alan sets out he doesn't really know what to expect, he just knows he has to get away.  He is angry at God, he is angry at his wife, he is just angry. 

What I found the most interesting in the book was the different people that Alan meets along the way.  There are good people and not so good people.  There are ones who help him on his journey and there are othes that don't.  It is a bit like life that way.  We are either a help to other people or not.

Now I haven't suffered loss in as big of proportions as Alan, but I can relate to his wanting to just walk away from it all.  I think most of us have thought that at one time or another.  This story does not encourage that you run away from your problems, in fact it makes a good case that your problems actually just follow you. 

I am looking forward to his next book in the series, Miles to Go, due out April 5, 2011.

Happy Reading

New Releases Dec, 20-24

The Search - Suznna Woods Fisher - #3 in the Lancaster County Secrets

Michigan Brides - Amber Stockton - 3 stories set in Michigan

Possession - Rene Gutteridge

A Place of Peace -Amy Clipston - #3 in the Kauffman Amish Bakery Series
Softly & Tenderly - Sare Evans/Rachel Hauck
Love on Assignment - Cara Lynn James

Merry Christmas

Dear Readers,

I want to take time on this post to wish you a Merry Christmas.  I pray that each of you can take time during this busy season to remember and reflect on that one perfect gift given so many years ago. 

Take time with your friends and family and enjoy them.  Take time to rest and relax and of course read a good book

Merry Christmas and

Happy Reading

New Releases for Dec. 13-18

Dear Readers,

I have gotten some new books in and am very excited to pass their titles on to you just in time for that last minute Christmas presents.

Fatal Judgement - Irene Hannon

The Damascus Way - Bunn/Oke

Courting Miss Amsel - Kim Vogel Sawyer

Paradise Valley - Dale Cramer

Bake Until Golden - Shepherd/Everson

Stars Collide - Janice Thompson

The Girl in the Gatehouse - Julie Klassen

Serendipity - Cathy Marie Hake

Donita K. Paul

Dear Readers,

I hate to sound all humbuggy but I am not a big fan of Christmas books.  I find them overly sappy and way too short for my taste.  I want a book that I can sink my teeth into.  One where I fall in love with the characters and learn to dislike the bad guys.  Christmas books are usually not long enough for me to do that.

With that said I was asked to read and review a Christmas book for the radio spot I am doing now. I chose Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball by Donita K. Paul and I am glad I did.  There isn't any real reason I chose it other than she hadn't written a Christmas novella before and I was interested in seeing what she would do with it as her normal genre is fantasy/speculative fiction with dragons. Of course dragons in a Christmas story might be interesting.

Cora Crowder is making it through life.  She is content in her job, her apartment and her arrangment with her family.  She lives several states away from them and she is good with that. 

Simon Derrick is making it through life.  He is content with his job, his home and his arrangement with his family.  They all live together and take care of each other and he is good with that.

The mischievous matchmakers in charge of the annual Christmas Ball are not so happy with Simon's and Cora's lives.  They are not happy that each of them is settling for a life with little or no true love. 

When Cora and Simon meet at the unusual bookstore on a very unusual street, they are both given a ticket to the ball.  They really have no reason for going until Sandy, Simon's younger sister, invites them both to go with her.  Things become more and more interesting as the time for the ball draws near. It seems more and more likely that Cora will not be going to the ball.  A family member shows up just in time to ruin Cora's plan of going.  Will she make it to the ball in time or will she find an excuse for not being there?

This was a fun, quirky, little story.  I enjoyed it and it reminded me that we are all works in progress and God is never content with were we are.  He accepts us the way we are, but wants us to draw closer to him.  This is a good read for the holidays as it is a story that can slow you down a bit during this busy season and help us remember what all the hustle and bustle is about.

Happy Reading &

Happy Holidays

Chris

Cynthia Ruchti

Dear Readers,

I had a review almost completely written about this book.  I didn't like it because it didn't seem to do the book justice.  Cynthia Ruchti writes an interesting story in They Almost Always Come Home.  It isn't your normal story of a husband that goes missing and the wife is moving heaven and earth to find him.  It isn't even a typical storyline of a husband who had a second life that his wife and family didn't know about. 

Libby is waiting for Greg to return home after his first solo trek into the wilderness.  He has gone many time with others, but he wanted to go by himself this time.  Libby isn't sure how she feels about his not being home on time.  She wonders if it is normal for a wife to start planning a funeral as soon as he doesn't come home.  She would never dream that he was having an affair, but maybe he didn't want to come home. 

To say that they are having problems with their marriage is a understatement.  They lost touch with each other years ago when tragedy struck their family.  They can't seem to find each other back and neither one seems to want to make the effort.  So when Greg is listed as missing Libby just isn't sure how she feels about it.

This was such a different look at this storyline.  So often this type of story is about a wife's grief and loss, but this time, what if a wife isn't grieving that he is gone?  What is she was going to leave him and just hadn't gotten around to it yet?  What if she was more upset that he beat her to the punch than she is about his going missing?  

This book isn't the regular story of a husband and wife deciding to work through their differences and (happily) refocusing on their marriage.  This is a couple who have taken a couple of huge blows to their relationship and have no idea how to find their way back.  They are tired of struggling and are just done with it all.  

It is a good reminder to us all that the biggest casualty in a stressful family situation is actually marriages.  People survive things, but marriages don't always.  We need to remember that so we are willing to walk alongside the couples and help them and their marriages.  

Happy Reading